"Only the surreal strategists who manage John McCain's presidential campaign would divine to top an endorsement by Sen. Joe "nothing but good news from Iraq" Lieberman with one that will give thinking Americans -- and a frightened world -- greater cause for alarm.

So it is that, on the heels of the Connecticut senator's campaign swing on behalf of McCain, comes the news that the Arizona senator is making the circuit with an even more disturbing advocate for even more disturbing foreign policies: Henry Kissinger.

The former secretary of state, whose name is synonymous in the civilized world with the term "war criminal" and whose sleazy business deals have advanced the interests of dictators, has added the dubious distinction of his support to the McCain campaign. So discredited is Kissinger that when President Bush proposed him as the chairman of the 9/11 Commission, there was near universal objection.

Kissinger is not conflicted about McCain. "I believe now that he's the best candidate to serve our nation in an extremely difficult and complicated period," he says.

Even more frightening, for McCain it's all about the next Cold War.

"We now face this threat of radical Islamic extremism," says McCain. "One of the reasons I feel so strongly about America's image in the world is because I think we'll win this struggle the same way we won the Cold War."

Those who amuse themselves with the notion that McCain is not that bad a player -- an old political misread given new life by his position on torture -- would do well to figure into their calculations the Kissinger factor. If the darkest player in post-World War II American foreign policy says a man should be president, that man definitely should not be president."

"Palestinian municipal elections were supposed to be held last week. Instead, they were canceled. A statement released by the Palestinian Authority claimed the cancellation was "in order to pave the way for a successful end to the siege on Gaza and for continued efforts at unity" between Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, and the government in the West Bank.

The cancellation of this election was an unjustified, unlawful, and unacceptable act. It damages democratic rights and makes a mockery of the interests of the Palestinian people.

But this is far more than an internal Palestinian issue. The only lasting peace between Isr…